VICTORIAN Athletic League has described the incorrect distance of Stawell Gift heats on Saturday as "one of those things".All 20 heats were run over 123.2 metres - 3.2m too long.VAL chief steward Bill Sutton said: '`This is the worst (case of mis-measuring a track) I've come across, but it's just one of those things." He said he always double-checked the tracks at other VAL meets but did not do so at Stawell. Stawell Athletic Club put the mistake down to human error."The club regrets that this has occurred," it said in a prepared statement.The error was confirmed at the end of racing on Saturday after suspicions were raised earlier in the day.The track was resurveyed yesterday, with the finish gates and starting positions moved to meet the 120m requirement.Although it was not until late on Saturday that the error was confirmed, the VAL officials began to query the state of the track informally when slower than expected times were being run in the Stawell Women's Gift heats - before the Stawell Gift.Runners put it down to a softer than usual running surface and a head wind.However, when the trend continued in the Stawell Gift heats with runners unable to threaten what was usually considered a moderate 12.5 seconds, light-hearted quips about the length of the track became of a more serious nature.In a scheduled extended break after the 10th of 20 heats, VAL officials made some informal measures and became involved in several on-track discussions.While there was no official public comment at that time, it was clear there was a problem with the length of the track.Sutton realised something was amiss after the first few heats. "I couldn't stop the meeting .th.th. I thought 'this is going to cause more problems'," he said."So I decided to let it run because everyone is going to have to run the same time on the same track and we can adjust it later. "We couldn't stop the meeting - it just had to go on," he said.Once the mistake was confirmed, VAL officials reviewed all heat finishes to determine whether any runners had been disadvantaged and should be added to the 22 fastest losers for the semi-finals today, with some additions made.

Stawell Gift: track distance error the ''worst'' mis-measure

WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Victorian Athletic League board member Rob Lehmann, of Ballarat, right, talks with fellow VAL officials midway through the Stawell Gift heats about possible problems with the length of the track.

VICTORIAN Athletic League has described the incorrect distance of Stawell Gift heats on Saturday as "one of those things".All 20 heats were run over 123.2 metres - 3.2m too long.VAL chief steward Bill Sutton said: '`This is the worst (case of mis-measuring a track) I've come across, but it's just one of those things." He said he always double-checked the tracks at other VAL meets but did not do so at Stawell. Stawell Athletic Club put the mistake down to human error."The club regrets that this has occurred," it said in a prepared statement.The error was confirmed at the end of racing on Saturday after suspicions were raised earlier in the day.The track was resurveyed yesterday, with the finish gates and starting positions moved to meet the 120m requirement.Although it was not until late on Saturday that the error was confirmed, the VAL officials began to query the state of the track informally when slower than expected times were being run in the Stawell Women's Gift heats - before the Stawell Gift.Runners put it down to a softer than usual running surface and a head wind.However, when the trend continued in the Stawell Gift heats with runners unable to threaten what was usually considered a moderate 12.5 seconds, light-hearted quips about the length of the track became of a more serious nature.In a scheduled extended break after the 10th of 20 heats, VAL officials made some informal measures and became involved in several on-track discussions.While there was no official public comment at that time, it was clear there was a problem with the length of the track.Sutton realised something was amiss after the first few heats. "I couldn't stop the meeting .th.th. I thought 'this is going to cause more problems'," he said."So I decided to let it run because everyone is going to have to run the same time on the same track and we can adjust it later. "We couldn't stop the meeting - it just had to go on," he said.Once the mistake was confirmed, VAL officials reviewed all heat finishes to determine whether any runners had been disadvantaged and should be added to the 22 fastest losers for the semi-finals today, with some additions made.